Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2017
43. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has spoken to his Northern Irish counterpart regarding the negative impact of a hard border on the agrifood sector in particular. [28824/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI and my officials began engaging with our UK counterparts, including in Northern Ireland, shortly after the Referendum result was announced in June 2016. The Secretary General of my Department met with his UK counterpart in London last September and then met with the Permanent Secretary of Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in October.
Prior to the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly in January 2017, I met with Michelle McIlveen (DUP), the then Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, on a number of occasions to discuss the implications of Brexit for the agri-food sector. These included more formal engagements in the context of the North-South Ministerial Council, such as those in Armagh last October and at the Plenary meeting in November, as well as ongoing informal contacts.
Officials from my Department continue to engage with their counterparts in DAERA at which discussions are taking place across a number of work streams such as trade, border controls, movement of live animals, plant and animal health (including disease control). The purpose of these engagements is to facilitate a common understanding, for both Departments, of the practical difficulties that stakeholders will face on the ground as Brexit becomes a reality, and allow consideration of mitigating options.
It should also be noted that I have hosted four All Island Sectoral dialogues since last December covering different agriculture enterprises, at which major stakeholders in the Northern Ireland agri food sector attended.
In all of these engagements we discussed the severe implications that a return to a hard border will have on community life in the area, on cross border agri trade and on security; and all agreed that the necessary steps should be taken to avoid such a scenario developing.
I look forward to meeting the new Minister for Agriculture in Northern Ireland as soon as possible after the Assembly is restored.
